The present invention relates generally to a digital television (DTV) system including an electronic program guide (EPG). More specifically, the present invention relates to DTV systems and corresponding methods for generating text input to a smart EPG search engine through character recognition.
Digital television (DTV) technology provides the bandwidth for conveying both the viewed program and a large amount of data, e.g., an electronic program guide (EPG) such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,738. It should be mentioned that the ""738 patent is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
There are a number of ways that the viewer can interact with an EPG program. For example, the EPG program can present the viewer with one of more menus. During program selection or video cassette recorder (VCR) programming, the viewer is prompted with a menu. Selection of an item in a menu can, as often as not, lead the viewer to another menu. Several menus can appear on the viewers television. It will be appreciated that as EPG data become increasingly more complex, navigating these menu menus can present some problems for ordinary viewers who are not xe2x80x9ccomputer literatexe2x80x9d. Moreover, scrolling and tabbing through EPG menu layers can become time consuming if the EPG data is organized into more than a small number of menu layers.
Several different approaches to navigation of EPG data have been developed over the years. U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,738 (discussed above) advocates the use of a remote control with a number of extra keys, which keys facilitate navigation through the EPG data. In contrast, there has been a significant amount of development in supplying text to a search engine connected to the EPG so that viewer can input, for example, a desired program title and the DTV can cause the EPG to output all occurrences of that title. Moreover, such search engines in the DTV can be operated to select and display all programs in a particular genre, i.e., sports. Once the list of candidate programs are presented to the viewer, the viewer can select a specific program by scrolling through the truncated program list, i.e., the search results.
However, assuming that the viewer desires to input text into an EPG search engine in the DTV, there are several different possibilities for generating the requisite text. The first mechanism is a keyboard operatively connected to the DTV. The keyboard can be directly connected to the DTV or could be coupled to the DTV by infrared (IR) or radio frequency (RF) signals. However, it will be appreciated that the viewer now has to maintain two devices, the remote control and the keyboard. Moreover, if the viewer was intimidated by the EPG menus, the viewer is likely to be similarly uncomfortable with the use of an auxiliary keyboard.
FIG. 1 illustrates a remote controller 1001 which has recently been introduced to the market place and which includes a touch screen 1010 and a virtual keyboard 1012. The virtual keyboard 1012 eliminates the concern regarding0 the need to maintain several pieces of equipment, i.e., a remote controller and a keyboard, but does little to alleviate the viewer""s computer anxiety. Moreover, the small size of the virtual keyboard 1012 makes it difficult for the visually or physically challenged to see and/or operate this keyboard.
Character recognition systems and methods are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,545,857 discloses an alternative remote controller for recognizing characters written to a touch screen. U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,337 discloses one such character recognition system. Recognition of the user""s handwriting on a touch screen advantageously can be employed to input information to other devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAS). Moreover, a similar touch screen could be incorporated into a DTV receiver to provide a source of text representing a key word, a title, or a subject to a xe2x80x9csmartxe2x80x9d EPG program, i.e., an EPG program incorporating a search engine. However, in the case of the DTV, since the viewer is sitting, several feet away from the DTV receiver, the inclusion of a touch screen in the DTV does not provide a convenient way for the viewer to operate the EPG program.
A remote controller which overcomes this limitation and, thus, provides another possible source of text for input to the search engine of the EPG included in the DTV is the remote controller disclosed in European Patent Application No. 0 633 661 A1 (the EP 661 application), which application is incorporated herein by : reference. The EP 661 application discloses a remote control device having a touch sensitive screen. More specifically, FIG. 2 illustrates a remote controller 236, which includes a microprocessor 210 operatively connected to the touch screen 238. The microprocessor 210 interprets characters written on the touch screen 238 in accordance with a program stored in EPROM 212 controller and outputs the characters to the DTV via a IR driver 214 and an IR transmitter 216. A stylus 240 can be employed in writing characters on the touch screen 238.
Thus, the viewer can write letters on the touch screen 238. These letters are then recognized by the microprocessor 210 executing a character recognition program and transmitted to, for example, the search engine associated with the EPG in the DTV. It will be appreciated that the character recognition program represents a significant memory overhead for a remote controller, not to mention increasing the size and complexity of the microprocessor 210 employed in the remote controller 136.
What is needed is an improved method for setting character data used in searching stored EPG data. Stated another way, what is needed is an improved method for providing search terms to the search engine associated with an EPG in a DTV without either a real or a virtual keyboard. It would be beneficial if the DTV system could be adapted to accept a variety of inputs. It would be particularly advantageous if the EPG system in the DTV included a search engine with a front end capable of accepting X and Y-axis position data.
Based on the above and foregoing, it can be appreciated that there presently exists a need in the art for a digital television (DTV) incorporating a smart electronic program guide,(EPG) system which overcomes the above-described deficiencies. The present invention was motivated by a desire to minimize the drawbacks and shortcomings of the presently available technology, and thereby fulfill this need in the art.
In one aspect, the present invention provides a digital television (DTV) system, which preferably includes a remote controller which generates X- and Y-axis position data, and an electronic program guide (EPG) controller which receives position data responsive to the X- and Y-axis position data, which generates character data responsive to the position data, which searches EPG data for character strings approximating the character data to thereby generate search results, and which outputs the search results to the screen of the DTV. More specifically, the remote controller generates the X- and Y-axis position data responsive to movement of the remote controller. This movement can be determined by either accelerometers or a gyroscope included in the remote controller. Alternatively, the X- and Y-axis position data can be generated by a pointing device, which can be either a touch panel or a trackball.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a digital television (DTV) system including a remote controller which generates a plurality of different electromagnetic signals occupying a predetermined beam pattern, a sensor array which determines X- and Y-axis position data responsive to the relative position of the sensor array within the beam pattern; and an electronic program guide (EPG) controller. Preferably, he EPG controller accumulates position data responsive to the X- and Y-axis position data, generates character data responsive to the X- and Y-axis position data, searches EPG data for character strings approximating the character data to thereby generate search results, and outputs the search results to the screen of the DTV. Alternatively, the position data varies responsive to movement of the remote controller.
In yet another aspect, the present invention provides a method for operating a digital television (DTV) system storing electronic program guide (EPG) data responsive to X- and Y-axis position data generated by a remote controller. Preferably, the method includes steps for accumulating position data corresponding to the X- and Y-axis position data to thereby produce accumulated position data; recognizing character data included in the accumulated position data; searching the stored EPG data for character strings approximating the character data to thereby generate search results; and displaying the search results on the DTV. Advantageously, the method also includes a step for generating the X- and Y-axis position data by moving the remote controller. Alternatively, the X- and Y-axis position data can be generated by moving either a predetermined portion of the remote controller or a pointer relative to a predetermined portion of the remote controller.
In a still further aspect, the present invention provides a method for operating a digital television (DTV) system storing electronic program guide (EPG) data responsive to X- and Y-axis position data generated by movement of a remote controller. Preferably, the method includes steps for:
transmitting a plurality of electromagnetic signals from the remote controller;
sensing the beam pattern of the electromagnetic signals relative to a sensing array to thereby generate the X- and Y-axis position data;
converting the X- and Y-axis position data into position data;
accumulating position data corresponding to the X- and Y-axis position data to thereby produce accumulated position data;
recognizing character data included in the accumulated position data; and
searching the stored EPG data for character strings approximating the character data to thereby generate search results; and
displaying the search results on the DTV.